South Korea’s presidential candidates face balancing act amid rising anti-China sentiment

South Korean leading presidential candidates Lee Jae-myung, left, and Yoon Suk-yeol. The country’s position between rival powers China and the US has been a notable discomfort for occupants of Seoul’s presidential Blue House Photograph: AP

When Moon Jae-in, the outgoing president of South Korea, returned home from Washington in May last year, his foreign minister, Chung Eui-yong, rushed to clarify the mention of Taiwan in his joint statement with Joe Biden – a highly sensitive subject for South Korea’s biggest trading partner, China.

“The Taiwan-related expressions [in the joint statement] are ‘very general expressions’,” Chung said a day after the statement was released. As if this clarification was not enough, Chung’s deputy, Choi Jong-gun, added: “China would appreciate the fact that South Korea does not see China as an enemy.”